What is a soul?
by IIII Winter Wolf IIII
Summary: Piper Mclean and two other young UNSC Marines are the only survivors of a Covenant and are brought to safety by the Spartan Perseus and his AI Annabeth. Once the three marines are safe back at home they part ways to carry on with their lives and forget what had happened. However, fate has it that Annabeth's termination and resurrection brings them back together.
1. Prolog

**This story takes place in the Halo universe. Don't worry, you don't need to be familiar with the lore, everything will be explained in the story.**

 **For the people from the lore. Annabeth is originally a late generation AI that was developed after studying Cortana. However, Annabeth Chase is unique among AIs. She was based on fully synthetic DNA while other AI's are fashioned from donor's brains.**

 **Like Cortana, Annabeth was assigned to the Spartan program. Her choice of companion fell on Spartan Perseus-118 and she has been his companion ever since.**

 **At the age of twenty Perseus was traveling on the corvette UNSC Abraham Lincoln in cryostasis. The ship went missing and was assumed to have been destroyed by the Covenant.**

 **Twenty years later the wreckage of the Abraham Lincoln was found by chance drifting in interstellar space by the UNSC Stallion. The Stallion sent out a distress signal and was joined by the UNSC Infinity only hours later. Spartan Sarah Palmer found Spartan-118's cryo pod in the Abram Lincoln's cargo bay and she recovered the pod with the help of fire team Majestic.**

 **On board, the UNSC Infinity technicians revived Perseus and quickly noticed that he wasn't logged in the Spartan Database.**

 **When the Infinity returned 118 to Fleet Command the mystery was solved and Perseus was officially added to the list of Spartan 2s. A few day later the AI Annabeth Chase chose him as her host.**

* * *

 **Perseus**

"Pilot set a course for these coordinates," Perseus ordered

"Yes sir," the pilot replied and a moment later the Pelican turned on the new heading.

Perseus opened a map on his HUD.

The familiar voice rang out and once again he couldn't decide if the voice was coming from the helmets intercom or from inside his head. It was his AI, Annabeth Chase.

"Twenty clicks Seaweed brain? The Covenant is preparing to glass the planet. Maybe we should get out of here, we've tested our luck enough over the last few days."

The pet names were against regulations but no one could really do anything against them interacting. "There are three marines out there and I won't leave them behind Wise Girl," Perseus insisted.

Once he had a good understanding of the terrane he would be working in he closed the map he checked the ammo indicator on his MH5D.

He was pleased to find that it was still nearly full. Thirty rounds and he still had seven spare mags.

"It's your call," Annabeth told him but he could sense her disapproval. I sighed and reached to the back of my head and pulled out the chip card and held it out on my palm in front of me. The Image of a shimmering, five inches tall transparent blue teenage girl with a combat knife strapped to her leg appeared hovering over his hand.

The girl had long, curly blond hair, a graceful face with high cheek bones and was dressed casually, apart from the combat knife. She also had a half open school bag slung over her shoulder with books sticking out. Others had told him that Annabeth looked like a nerd, not that he knew any civilian children so just had to accept that claim.

The holographic girl crossed her arms and gave him a stern look. "Do I have to explain the concept of the proper usage of military resources to you?"

"This isn't a waist Wise Girl. It's a question of doing what is right. Now tell me what you know about our marines?"

Annabeth blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Privates second class Piper McLean and Frank Zang and Private third class Hazel Levesque. It was Piper McLean who sent out the distress call. They belonged to Gamma Company and from what Private McLean reported they are the only survivors.

"This is nearly a lone survivor scenario..."

The holographic image gazed at me intently.

"Spartan, an enemy AA position just popped up on our radar. I won't be able to get you closer. If you want I can find you an LZ close by."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and gave Perseus the thumbs up and he inserted the small chip into a slot in the back of his helmet.

"Pilot, there is a creek four hundred meters ahead. Hold position there, we will jump," Annabeth ordered.

An Image of her face appeared in a window on the left side of Perseus's HUD.

"Will do Ma'am. You too Spartan," the Pilot said.

"Wise Girl, scan the com channels for any signs of our missing marines."

"Of course Seaweed brain," the AI replied.

"Okay, we are in position," the pilot announced and Perseus opened the aft loading ramp.

Perseus stepped over the edge of the aft platform and dropped through the air.

Thirty feet.

When his feet hit made contact with the smooth pebbles of the river bed he rolled forward and came back up on one knee with his rifle at the ready in the middle of the creek, surrounded by a dense forest.

"We're clear have a nice day," Annabeth told the pilot.

"Good luck you two!" the pilot said and a moment later the drop ship accelerate and slip out of sight.

"Okay, the last transmission came from a point about twenty-one clicks north. Considering the terrain and our average speed I believe we should be on station around nightfall. It is logical that they will have moved and are on the run so if things go bad and we can't reach them on the radio we should be able to find them in four hours. That would leave us approximately seven hours until the Covenant fleet is in position to glass the planet if they work after usual pattern. In that time we need to either clear the out the enemy AA guns which will be difficult or if possible leave the combat zone. We will be cutting this very close either way."

"Thank you for the update," Perseus muttered and jogged over to the edge of the creek and climbed up the shoreline. I gazed into the darkness. Thermo and motion sensors showed nothing apart from a handful of reptile-bird like animals that called this planet a home.

Piper

Hazel's usually chocolate skin was nearly gray and the girl was sweating and just maintaining consciousness. "Hazel, stay awake," Frank begged her. He then unbuckled the clasp under Hazel's chin and pulled off her helmet. The girl's hair spilled down from her back.

Piper's grip on her assault rifle tightened at the sight of her heavily injured friend.

Frank turned to her with pleading eyes.

"Piper, do something!"

Piper bit her lip, wishing she could do something. Despite being the same rank as Frank she had somehow ended up in charge.

"What am I supposed to do? I already called for help and did my best to fill Hazel's wound up with bio foam," Piper groaned.

Hazel had gotten hit in the gutt by a Covenant needler. The projectile had penetrated her balistic armor and then turned her inside into swiss cheese.

She had managed to remove the thorn and filled the wound up with the life-saving foam but the wound was still taking its toll. Frank was clutching the girl's hand. I knew that they were secretly in love. Everyone in the Company had known it but stayed silent. Romance in a unit was forbidden but as long as the two didn't actually start dating you could turn a blind eye.

We were currently hidden in a small cave under a tree, the place used to serve my platoon as a hide out during maneuvers. Now it was our hideout. I glanced up at the twisted wood of the trees underside and dropped down onto the moss. No more light seeped through the tree's canopy, the only light came from the small field lamp.

"I'll go out and see if I can find a field surgeon kit or something. See if you can keep Private Levesque from cooling down."

"Yes Ma'am," Frank whispered.

Then Frank got to his feet and saluted. "Yes sir!" he repeated, this time louder.

"Carry on," Piper muttered and pulled on her helmet.

She climbed up, using tree routes as handholds. He silently cursed my choice to join the military, my father had been right. It had been a mistake. The moment she had turned eighteen she had joined the UNSC marine corps.

She had come from an extremely wealthy family, her father was one of the most important and famous celebrities throughout the human colonies. Piper could have had a bright future, instead, she was stuck here with poor chances of survival.

In a mind fart of Patriotism, she had joined the military and now here she was, fighting for her life after nearly her entire unit had been wiped out.

Once she cleared the hole she stayed silent for a moment listening intently. Nothing...

It was dark already although she could still see some golden sunlight high up above.

Finally, she started walking, hunched over with my rifle at the ready. However, she kept the safety on. There was no reason to risk giving away her location by any involuntary gunshots.

She moved through the darkness, careful to stay low and silent. It took me nearly half an hour to reach their encampment. Alpha Company had set up camp on a hill in the middle of a clearing. At the time Piper had been proud if the camp.

They had had everything from dug out trenches dug at the base of the hill to chain gun emplacements and walls made of sandbags. The center of the camp had been filled with tents.

Then the Covenant had thrown in wave after wave of grunts at us. After the fifth wave only Zang, Levesque, and herself had been left so while the Covenant had been regrouping they slipped away in the forest, right before the Covenant had bombed the base to Valhalla from space.

Piper reached the clearing's edge and saw the smoldering remains of what once had been her home. Where once had been a hill was now only flat ground, as smooth as a mountain lake.

Millions of tiny glass crystals sparkled blood red in the last rays of sunlight. The rest of the clearing was littered with the blackened craters and corpses of humans and covenant combatants alike.

She started moving around the clearing, searching for something useful. Sure enough, she found all the goodies she had been hoping to find. She found a few clips of Ammo for her rifle and quickly stowed the ammo away in her bag. She also found a shotgun which she strapped to my back.

A moment later she stumbled along a Jackhammer launcher with three spare missiles. She attached the launcher to the side of her pack and missiles also disappeared into the bag. She also found a box of military rations which joined her ammo and missiles.

Finally, she found it, a red case with a white cross on it.

Grinning to herself she shouldered her rifle and grabbed it.

Everything was going great right up until she heard the familiar grunting sounds.

Piper quickly dove towards the tree line and found cover just as a group of ten grunts lumbered out onto the clearing. The small, short, hunched back creatures, wearing methane filled environment were armed with needlers and plasma pistols.

A sharp crack cut through the air from maybe twenty feet behind her...

A cold pit settled in the bottom of Piper's stomach as she slowly turned around. There he was, wearing red armor even though he hadn't spotted her yet which explained why she wasn't here yet. It was an Elite or Sangeli.

Very slowly and carefully Piper put down the crate. Then, even slower she pulled one of her two remaining frag grenades from her belt and pulled out pin with her teeth. Piper took careful aim, counted to three and threw the grenade.

When the small ball landed between the Elites feet, the eight feet tall alien warrior cried out in surprise. To late. The explosive detonated and the elites shields flickered and died. Shrapnel tore through armor and flesh filling the air with a mist of blue blood.

Piper didn't wait for the grunts to react and sent her second and last grenade flying towards them. Her luck seemed to be holding because the explosion sent three of the grunts flying.

The remaining grunts raised their weapons and opened the fire.

Piper flattened herself against the ground and rolled behind a rock just as the plasma bolts and purple crystal thrones hissed past her head. She heard the crystals shattering against the rock. Plasma whizzed past her and splattered over the stone, vaporizing the rock.

The private switched to fully automatic and rolled to the side.

She took aim at one of the little suckers and opened fire. Her hands were shaking so much that it was much more likely that she would hit any of the other grunts than the one she was actually aiming at. One of the shredder rounds found its mark and punctured the grunts methane filled environment suite.

She was already on my feet, the air around me filled with plasma and crystal needles.

Finally, she found a large tree and ducked behind it. The grunts didn't stop shooting.

Piper peeked around the tree bark and returned fire but wasn't sure if she had hit anything.

So far she has been able to pull herself together, despite being terrified to death but slowly she felt panic starting to seep through the read haze created by the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

A purple glowing crystal shot past her, only inches from my face.

Piper shrank back behind the tree and realized that she was screaming, but unable to hear my voice over the song of battle.

Then she knew it, she was sure that she was going to die. The realization hit her with the force of a Mac-gun.

The young marine turned on her radio and her headset clicked. "This is Piper McLean, 27th marines, Alpha Company, Third platoon! Axios!" she screamed and tore around the tree with her rifle raised and changed towards the grunts, my finger pinning down the trigger.

Green plasma hissed past her, missing me by mere inches.

Suddenly her feet only hit air and for a second she was weightless. Then she crashed into solid rock, pain shooting up from her knee.

She had fallen into one of the many craters.

Piper nearly laughed. She had gone from falling in a heroic charge to dying in a hole.

Suddenly machine gunfire pierced the night followed by an explosion and the sound of grunts and jackals screaming. Then silence, dead silence.

Ignoring her knee and climbed out of the crater. It was dark now and the air was thick with smoke that stung in her eyes. No sign of the grunts.

Two floodlights lit up from maybe fifty feet away from where she was standing. Piper raised her rifle and pointed it the source of the light.

Her earpiece came to life with a female voice. "Private McLean, this is UNSC AI Annabeth Chase, hold fire."

Piper froze.

The lights started moving towards her and slowly she could make out a large form approaching.

Piper turned on the flashlight mounted under my rifle and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was one of the tallest men she had ever seen in my life and he was wearing olive green and black armor.

It was a Spartan.

She had heard of these legendary warriors but until now I had never actually seen one and judging by his size he was a Spartan 2. One of the originals.

When he stopped a few feet away from her she realized that at her full height I would just reach his sternum. He had to be at least seven foot tall, if not more.

"You are Private McLean?" the Spartan asked with a deep and metallic voice.

Piper nodded and found her voice again. "Yes, sir. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to save you," he announced.

"Hey, I'm here too!" the girl's voice rang out again. Suddenly she understood that the girl was an AI, linked to the Spartan.

"Where are Privates Zang and Levesque?"

"At our hideout," she reported with a dry throat.

Piper pulled herself together and stood up a bit straighter.

"Let's get going, we have a long way to walk tonight," the Spartan announced.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Call me Perseus. Now start moving. More Covenant will be on its way when this patrol doesn't report in. Also, the Covenant will glass this planet in a few hours. It would be best if we could witness that from space rather than from down here," he replied.

"Just a moment," Piper said I hurried back to the trees to retrieve the medical kit. Once she had returned to the Armored giant they hurried back in direction of the hideout, Perseus easily keeping pace with her. Somehow he managed to stay perfectly silent.

As they walked, Annabeth Chase, the AI stayed silent or if she talked she only did with her armored host.

When the first Banchy passed overhead Perseus took the lead, telling her when to take cover and when to move. Despite his size, the Spartan was hard to see in his dark green, nonreflective armor. He also moved with nearly impossible agility, despite his size.

Finally, they reached the tree.

"We are there," she hissed. Piper led Perseus over to the hole and slid down first where she was met by Frank who was pointing his rifle at her. Relief washed over his face when he recognized her. "Piper, I-"

"Look who I found while I was out," Piper cut across him and cleared the entrance just as Percy slid down the hole.

Franks jaw dropped, then he gathered his senses. "Private Levesque just lost consciousness. There was nothing I could do about it." His voice was unnaturally high-pitched and filled with rising panic.

"Pull yourself together Private Zang and get ready move out. McLean, give me that medical kit and check your loot. We've got a long way to walk."

Perseus crawled over to Hazel and Piper handed him the red case. Then she pulled off backpack and started going through her new things.

"Is she going to be alright?" Frank, who was still kneeling next Hazel asked.

The Spartan grabbed the collar of Hazel's kevlar vest and tore the body armor apart as if it was only toilet paper. The camo jumpsuit under the armor was drenched in dark red blood.

"Private, if you insist on staying here you could at least help. Open her camo outfit." While I was checking my gear I watched as Frank unzipped the front Hazels jumpsuit exposing the girls dark, blood covered skin. "Bio-foam layer is broken. She is about to go into a coma."

The black Spartan opened the medical kit. "Private Zang, standby bio foam. McLean, stop staring. You have your orders. We are moving out in ten."

True to his word they climbed out of the hole within ten minutes. After a shot of Adrenaline Hazel was back in the world of the living. She had gulped down a military ration to get back to strength and was now able to move mostly by herself. Frank was steadying her as they walked because on her own she would still be crawling.

Perseus took point, his rifle at the ready and Piper made up the rear making sure Hazel and Frank didn't fall behind. Hazel had at first been terrified of their new companion and it had taken a few minutes for her to get used to the armored giant.

They walked in silence and Piper was surprised by how little fear she was feeling. Considering that she was on a planet that was overrun by the Covenant, had just nearly lost her entire unit, was nineteen years old and fighting for her life she was keeping it together very well.

There was also the minor snag that the planet she was currently on would be burned to cinders in a few hours.

Then there was the nearly 7.9ft tall Spartan who was trying his best to keep them alive but was about as warm as the average snowman which wasn't helping with her slowly rising panic.

As the next hour past her worries concerning Hazel grew. The girl looked like death itself. Her face was covered in grime, blood, and bruises and her eyes were shining with pain. She even heard her wincing with every step.

Something screeched in the distance and Perseus spun around.

"It's a Jackel.l," Annabeth's voice rang in their ear pieces, breaking the silence for the first time in a while. Both Frank and Hazel flinched and I remembered that they hadn't been introduced to the AI before.

Annabeth Chase didn't seem to have any intentions of introducing herself because she stayed silent. "McLean, take point! Just head north. I am going to buy you some time and will catch up with you later. Now get moving. Double time marines."

Piper saluted. "Yes, sir!"

The Spartan spun around and sprinted off in the direction they had come from with what had to be at least fifty kilometers an hour.

Frank looked at her expectantly and even Hazel seemed to be trying to pull herself together. Just then her legs gave away.

Frank noticed and caught her just before she hit the ground.

She was unconscious.

"Carry her. Perseus is right, we can't wait. With Hazel defenseless, we would be sitting ducks." Frank looked down at Hazel nervously, then scooped the petite girl up into his arms and laid her over his shoulder like in basic training.

Piper policed Hazel's rifle and slung her own MA2D over her back. "Let's move out."

This time Piper stayed at Franks side as they walked through the dark forest. After a few minutes, the distant rattle off fully automatic gun fire and the whining of plasma pistols echoed through the dark woods followed by a few explosions.

"Looks like our new friend is giving the Covies a warm welcome," Piper noted, trying to sound upbeat."

After a minute or two, the gunfire fell silent. Suddenly another fire fight broke out in the distance, this time a bit farther away.

"Maybe we should hurry up," Piper suggested.

"You're not carrying someone. Are you?" Frank complain.

"I'm carrying our supplies. You are carrying your girlfriend," Piper snapped back.

"She isn't my girl-" he fell silent. "Got the message."

They continued on their way through the thick woods, praying that the Covenant didn't catch up to them. They heard four more gunfights somewhere of the distance before silence fell again.

Was the Covenant catching up to them?

As far as I knew Perseus could be dead by now.

Sure, Perseus being a Spartan was the physical emancipation of warfare but even he was only a mortal. Suddenly Annabeth's voice rang out from her earpiece again.

"Zang! McLean! We've managed to mop up most of the Convies but a detachment of grunts and Jakels managed to slip past us and are on your trail. We are coming back as fast as possible but they have a considerable headstart."

Piper glanced at Frank who had blank horror written across his face.

"Any advice?" she asked.

The AI was silent for a moment. "Brace yourself. We are coming as fast as possible. Chase out." The connected cutoff.

"What are we going to do?" Frank asked, sounding close to a panic attack.

"Well, we aren't running with Private Levesque out if action and we aren't leaving her behind either," Piper growled and dropped her bag.

Then she detached the Jackhammer launcher from its clasps and handed it to Frank along with the spare missiles.

"Are you planning on running and leaving Hazel behind?" Piper asked. When I mentioned Hazel Frank's face hardened.

"Okay, McLean. Let's do this." Frank put down Hazel and propped her up against the trunk of a thick tree and checked the rocket launcher.

Piper also checked her assault rifle.

A minute later both of had taken cover behind the tree, taking turns to peak for Covenant. "We should spread out. I'm going for the bushes at three O'clock. You stay here," she ordered.

"We should stay together," Frank insisted. He had the wide eyes of a hunted animal so Piper gave in and nodded. "Okay."

Frank sighed. "Here they come."

Piper followed Frank's gaze and realized that he was right. A few grunts were melting out from the darkness.

"Blow them to Valhalla," Piper growled. A 105mm missile roared from its launcher and streaked over one of the grunts and hit one of the ugly dwarves in the chest. The methane filled environment suite exploded and four grunts were engulfed in a ball of fire. A jackel that had just come around a corner screeched and jumped back. Piper turned off her rifle's safety off and took a snapshot at the bushes.

"They are spreading out. We'll be outflanked," Frank hissed.

"Well, we could have done it too " Piper reminded him. Frank sent the last remaining rockets into the brushes. Most missed but one sent pieces of a jackel flying through the air.

The Covenant unit opened fire and plasma bolts screamed past them and hit the trees around them. Plasma splashed over wood and stone, vaporizing whatever it touched.

The two marines took cover and waited for a pause in the barrage. The moment there was a break in the plasma hail she twisted around what was left of the tree and pulled the trigger, spraying the bush with short bursts of shredder rounds.

A grunt squealed when one of the shredder rounds found its mark. A few seconds later Frank also hit something, what seemed to be a Jackel.

The Covenant returned fire, green plasma hissed over and around us. Piper spotted a grunt that was trying to flank them, spun around and opened up on him. Shrapnel rounds tore through the ugly thing and it hit the ground.

Then she went back to firing bursts of bullets at everything that moved.

After a few seconds, Frank managed to kill another grunt. Just then their luck seemed to run out at just that moment.

Perhaps the Covenant had realized how few we were, perhaps the commander had managed to regain control of his troops. Either case, the Covenant pinned them down with cover fire and managed to make sure that they couldn't fight back.

Piper clicked the boom mic. "Perseus! We are pinned down and need help. Where the hell are you?" Piper yelled.

Annabeth's reply came promptly, simple and pleasantly cool. "Stand by." Then only silence.

"She isn't very helpful at the moment!" Frank yelled over the noise of the battle. "I know!" I yelled back and opened up on the Covenant, and then luckily blowing one of the aliens heads away.

My rifle clicked empty...again. Piper ejected the clip and stuffed in a new One and cycled a round into the chamber. Then she continued shooting until the thirty round Clip was empty. She was about to reload again when she heard AP rounds tearing through the bushes with deadly accuracy, cutting down grunts and Jackels.

Then I saw him. A giant Spartan tore through the trees, his assault rifle blazing as he tore the enemy patrol apart. Less than ten seconds later the skirmish was over.

"Are they dead?" Frank asked.

Again Annabeth answered. "These are, Private. The Covenant is starting to glass the planet ahead of schedule. They are starting at the poles and are continuing in the standard pattern. The good news is that the Covenant is pulling back all its forces. The bad news is that our dust off schedule is being scrambled. Now, the enemy AA batteries are being disassembled but we have to find to an LZ and hope that a Pelican arrives in time before we get burned to glass."

Frank visibly gulped at this. "How much time do we have?"

"One way or another this will end in about one hour." Piper glanced up into Perseus's reflective visor but the Spartan stayed silent.

Then she realized that the warrior preferred to let his AI do the talking.

Finally, Perseus did speak, his deep voice coming from loudspeakers in the side of his helmet.

"We make double time to the edge of the woods for about six clicks. We have to leave now." Frank attached his rifle to his belt and moved to pick Hazel up again. The moment he took on the smaller girls weight his legs buckled from the exhaustion. They would have gone down but Perseus caught them.

"You're to exhausted to carry her Private, I'll take her." Perseus laid Hazel over his shoulder and pulled Frank to his feet. "Double time marines."

For the next forty minutes, they jogged through the dark woods.

At some point, Annabeth announced that a Pelican was underway to pick them up and finally they broke through the tree line and found themselves standing in a valley with thick wet grass crunching under their feet.

Piper was shocked to see that the western horizon was glowing dark red. Thick clouds of smoke scorched the sky. The clouds were also glowing dark red as they reflected the inferno on the other side of the horizon. Piper understood what she was seeing. The Covenant was burning the planet.

"Now what?" she asked. Perseus lay Hazel down in the grass and Frank was at her side within a second.

Piper, however, found myself standing at the Spartan's side, staring at the glowing red horizon. "I just talked to Jako, the pilot of Speed bird 059. He is two minutes out and he said he has a medic on board for Private Levesque."

Finally, Piper heard the distant roaring of engines and twisted her head until she spotted a Pelican heading in their direction. Perseus pulled a short black stick from a slot in his armor and punched the lower half against his waist.

The tip lit up with blueish white light and glowing blue smoke spread around us as the torch marked our location.

The Pelican adjusted its course and headed straight for them. Two minutes later the bird put down right in front of them. The aft ramp lowered itself, inviting them into the red-lit crew cabin. A medic rushed out and helped Frank carry her into the drop ships belly.

Piper followed them and Perseus was right on her heals. The moment later they were safely on board, the Pelican lurched into the air and speeded of into the night.

Piper sat down in the closest chair to the aft door, opposite of where Perseus was sitting while Hazel was lying on the floor between them. Frank and the medic were working on wounded marine

"Welcome back 118. The prowler UNSC Spirit is waiting up for us. Good job today. You to Chase."

Suddenly the holo emitter at the roof of the crew cabin started glowing blue and the holographic transparent 3D image of a beautiful blond teenage girl flickered to life. She had a knife strapped to her leg, apart from that she looked like a nerd with a backpack on her back and a few books clutched in her arms. This had to be Annabeth.

"Thanks, Jako," the hologram chirped and sat down next the Perseus. She was tiny compared to him. Annabeth's head didn't even reach her hosts shoulder. The aft ramp started moving up and Piper got one last glance of the burning world below them. Then the door sealed.

Perseus grabbed the sides of his helmet and pulled. She heard seals hissing and the helmet slid off and was set down on its owner's lap. Even in the red light, she could tell that the Spartan's was very pale, probably because he wasn't exposed to much sunlight in his armor.

He had short black hair and hard green eyes, his lips were pursed in a way that let him look grim. He was quite good looking in a hard, tough way.

Their eyes met and the Spartan gave her a Curt nod. "Good work soldier."

Piper tried to smile but failed. All in all that was one hell of a compliment. At that moment Piper realizes how terrified she had been for the last two days. She relaxed her grip on her rifle and closed her eyes. Sure, that after what she had been through she would never be able to sleep darkness took her.

* * *

 **So, what do you folks think so far? I might come back to FF. Sadly my other stories are so far behind my current standards that I can't really see myself working on them.**

 **Visit me on wattpad. My pen name is WinterWolf561.**

 **Winter Wolf over and out.**


	2. Aftermath

One month later.

 **Piper Mclean.**

Piper was lying on the couch in her family mansion blankly staring at the giant TV screen. After the massacre she had been sent on medical leave and had been sent back to earth in a Cryo pod. She was home for about two days no and was still half in shock. It was two o'clock in the afternoon and she was still in her PJs.

"Hey, you alright?" Drew asked from the hallway to the kitchen.

"I'm fine," Piper replied tonelessly.

She and Drew had never gotten along, and had spent most of their childhood ignoring each other. However ever since Piper had gotten home Drew seemed to be putting up a special effort. "Ohh okay, I'm going out with a few friends tonight. You want to join us, Selina might come too!" Drew offered.

"Maybe," Piper replied but was quite sure she wouldn't go.

"Listen, I can't even begin to imagine what you have gone through but I think you should just carry on with life. Let's just get really drunk, then let the cops pick us up and let Dad bail us out in the morning," Drew suggested.

Piper forced herself to smile at Drew. "I'll try to go," she promised. Piper didn't want to start drinking because if she started she feared she wouldn't be able to stop.

"She is right you know, this is a good idea," her Father yelled from the kitchen.

Suddenly her own father, the famous actor Tristian Mclean appeared next to Drew. "Luv, if there-" suddenly the doorbell rang and Piper sighed, happy to have an excuse to evade the discussion.

"I'll get it," Piper quickly announced and rolled off her couch and hurried to the door.

Once she opened it she froze. There stood a very tall and athletic looking young man with short black hair and green eyes. He was wearing a Navy Uniform. It was the Spartan, Perseus. She had last seen him in the hangar Bay on the UNSC Spirit. It was strange seeing him out of his armor.

"Good afternoon Private McLean. May I have a moment of your time?" the Spartan asked.

"Of course Chief," Piper+ said quickly.

"Who is it?" her father asked and appeared next to her.

Then he froze as he came face to face with the Spartan. Tristian Mclean was tall and muscular and hopelessly dwarfed by Perseus.

"Dad, this is Perseus. He is the Spaten that got me out of there..." she explained.

Tristian Mclean squared his shoulders and held out his hand, "I guess I have you to thank for bringing my Baby home."

"Your daughter brought herself and two other soldiers home, I just helped out," Perseus corrected but shook the hand none the less.

"Sorry sir, but I wasn't expecting you to come by?" Piper said.

"I know. I heard you handed in a request to be discharged from duty ahead of time. Considering the situation the Navy is inclined to accept your request. Here are your discharge papers, all it requires now is your signature," the soldier announced and held out a large envelope. "But, before you sign it I have a counteroffer to make. Would you mind if I came inside, this is a rather confidential matter."

"Of course," Piper muttered and stepped aside, inviting Perseus in.

"Take a seat," Piper said and beckoned to the couch.

"Who is this?" Drew asked, eyeing the soldier with interest.

"Spartan-118 Perseus of the UNSC Navy," Percy introduced herself

"Ohh," Drew said clearly interested, yes, Spartans were nearly legends.

"Drew, Dad, could you leave us. This is military business," Piper snapped.

"Admit it, you've been wanting to say that for ages," Drew grumbled but headed back to the kitchen.

"You too," she ordered her father.

"You sure?" he asked.

Piper nodded and her father too left the room, leaving her alone with the soldier.

"So, what is this alternative offer you have for me?" Piper asked.

"I'll be blunt. Back when Reach fell the UNSC most of my fellow Spartan's died trying to defend the planet. Now there have been two follow-up programs, most of which's suspects died on in a single large suicide mission, taking out key Covenant targets. The point is that all of us were recruited as children. I did when I was six years old. Now they are starting the Spartan-IV program, and the recruits are to be recruited from the ranks of the military. Now, they are forcing me to lead a team. Now, you handled yourself better than most have out there," Perseus explained.

"Okay, straight up, what are you offering me?"

"A place in this Spartan program. I could use someone like you watching Annabeth's and my back," Perseus said and produced a small holo transmitter. Once again the holographic image of a blond, teenage girl appeared in his hand.

"Good morning Ms. McLean," Annabeth greeted her.

"Good afternoon Annabeth," Piper corrected her.

"Sorry, I am still set to another planetary time Zone," Annabeth apologized and bowed.

"Well, did my favorite Sparti get everything or did he get distracted again?" Annabeth asked brashly.

"Me? A Spartan? Are you serious?" Piper asked Perseus, deciding not to get into that discussion with Annabeth.

"Ohh, he is always serious!" Annabeth chirped.

The Spartan frowned at the hologram and Piper had to smile slightly.

"Annoying AIs aside yes, that is a general idea. You don't have to decide now, if you chose to back out you can sign the discharge papers. If you chose to take me up on my other you will turn on at Fleet High Command in Sidney on the first of April at ten o'clock. Report to the front desk and tell them that you are there on my behalf," Perseus announced and set a large envelope down on the table. "I'll be going then," he announced and got to his feet.

Piper also rose. "I'll think about it, I really will," she promised.

"Very well then, don't bother. I'll show myself out. Your discharge papers are in that envelope along with a small present," Perseus announced and left the living room.

Piper dropped back down on her couch and opened the envelope.

From it, she pulled the discharge sheet and two pictures. She immediately recognized it. It was back in the clearing, where she had first seen the Spartan. It was dark and she was illuminated by the floodlights in Percy's helmet.

On the first picture, Piper was wearing full combat gear and aiming her rifle at the camera, or Perseus to be precise. Her face and clothing were covered in grime and blood. The second picture was of her fast asleep in the back of the pelican dropship. She was if posible even more a mess here. Leaves and twigs were hanging from her hair and she was cuddeling her rifle.

"What did he want?" Drew asked and hurried over to her.

"What's this?" she asked, glancing at the pictures.

"This is me, that one was when I first met him, right after he saved me from an enemy patrol and the other was on our Extract Pelican," she explained.

Drew looked at the pictures, "Damn girl. You look fierce! So, what did he want?"

Piper sighed and leaned back, "He gave me a job offer. Dad won't like this but I think I might take him up on it. This is just that kind of offer no one in his right mind would accept, yet you can't really say no to."

* * *

 _Two years later_

 **Frank Zang**

Frank considered himself to be lucky. He was still a soldier but had gotten his dream assignment. Hazel had survived and they had kissed the first time while she was still in a hospital bed on board the Spirit. Back on earth she had left combat duty and started training as a Navy Nurse, far away from active battle while he had gotten a nice and peaceful guard post.

Now he was transferred to guard the Naval Hospital and Medical Reseach Center in Berlin, where Hazel was posted too, doing who knows what.

Right now he was on his lunch break, with his rifle slung over his back. Hazel leaned against the wall next to him, wearing blue scrubs.

"So, how was your day so far?" he asked.

"Great, ever since I joined Doctor Hestia's staff I haven't gotten puked on once. I have exactly one patient and she is more or less in a coma," she explained.

Frank didn't press it. He knew that for the past month Hazel had been working in the restricted part of Complex, dedicated to classified research. But he knew that

Suddenly her eyes widened.

Frank followed her gaze and spotted the young woman, leisurely walking towards them, wearing a blue Navy uniform.

"Piper?" he exclaimed and frowned slightly.

Piper seemed a lot taller than he had remembered her, slightly over six feet tall. She also seemed more athletic, and paler. But her Kaleidoscope still held their playful spark. "Hey, folks! It's been a while. Sorry, I couldn't keep in touch, work has made that impossible," she greeted them and smiled.

"Ahm hi, what are you doing here?" Hazel greeted her.

Piper smirked, "I am here for my outfit. There are some family issues that I need to resolve."

Suddenly Hazel stiffened and then nodded at the golden medal pinned to the girl`s chest. It was an eagle, clutching arrows in one claw and a bolt of lightning in the other. "Your outfit?" Hazel asked hesitantly.

Piper beamed, "Yeah, I guess I am allowed to tell you now. I got recruited into the Spartan Program by Perseus."

Suddenly Hazel stiffened. "Ahm, congratulations I guess. I'm really sorry. I'm late for something," she nearly squeaked.

"Sure, see you later..." Piper trailed off when she realized that Hazel was already hurrying off.

"What's that about?" Frank asked and Piper shrugged.

"So, you're a Spartan. I remember some Gossip magazine reporting that you were planning to leave, your father gave an interview on how you were doing after you got home," he explained.

Piper grinned, "Yeah, told him right after that interview that I was being recruited for Spartan training. Anyway, it was nice seeing you. I have some errands to run."

As the young soldier walked off Frank realized that Piper really was taller. She had gone through the physical augmentations that granted Spartans their superhuman speed and strength.

* * *

 **Hazel**

Hazel passed the security checkpoint and hurried down the hall.

She hurried down a maze of hallways until she entered a laboratory with a hospital bed and a bunch of medical equipment. "Doctor Hestia, there is a Spartan here," Hazel gasped.

The doctor looked up and sighed, "It was bound to happen with ONI spooks running left right and center these days and turned her attention back to the young woman lying in the hospital bed. She was a fair skinned, with high graceful cheekbones. She was of average height and surprisingly athletic looking, considering that she had never left the bed she was lying in under her own strength. However, that was because of the countless of needles sticking in her skin, sending electrical impulses through her body to train her muscles.

She was beautiful, with proud features and shoulder long golden blond. But most of the face was covered by a neural interface. "So, how is she doing?" Hazel asked.

"Nothing, she is still in a coma and life support. I've finished with the basics and we are now downloading memories and things like that. She won't be able to make sense for a time. It turns out that the human brain and computers store information very different. Her brain will have to learn to access and link information first," Hestia explained.

"What about the Spartans?" Hazel asked. "You know how they will see this. Annabeth Chase was a Spartan AI, they would have at least seen her as a friend. This is kind of like digging up a grave!"

* * *

 **So, this is it for now. I hope you've enjoyed yourself.**

 **Feel free to Review.**

 **p.s. Check out my wattpad account, WinterWolf561. I reccomend my original fantasy story. It's called Annabella: The last Sorceress.**

 **Winter over and out.**


	3. A Spartan in Full

**Piper Mclean**

"Remarkable," Doctor Will Solace muttered as he studied her.

Piper glared at the young man. She was currently lying on an examination table, wearing nothing at all.

"Ohh, my apologies. Your test results are remarkable. Your last augmentation surgeries were less than two months ago and you are already back on your feet. How is your physical Therapy going?" the doctor asked.

"I am very motivated. It turns out that neither Perseus nor the Master Chief care much about minor things like pain," Piper snapped and Solance smiled.

"Ahh yes, I did a few case studies. You took nearly twice as long as the Spartan 2s to recover, well the ones that survived or were capable of working as soldiers again but still, quite impressive," he mused.

"Geez. I'm sorry that I didn't start Special Forces training when I was six," Piper muttered and Solace laughed. Then Piper sat up and stared down at her body. She has covered in dozens of healing surgical scars. The insides of her arms, wrists, and even the back of her hands. The same counted for her Torso, front and back, her stomach, thighs, and calfs.

"You will be pleased to learn that the testosterone levels in your blood are going down to normal parameters, considering the circumstances. Your Estrogen levels have also risen back to what can be considered acceptable. You should actually still be capable of having children, unlike most of your fellow female Spartans. Their augmentations were quite a lot more invasive than yours, then and they were also the first humans to be subjected to them. Your eye exams are off the charts for a normal human being. All in all, you are a seventy-five percent fit Spartan. I would still recommend taking it slow for a few more weeks," he announced and Piper frowned.

"You want to try out that new armor of yours in the field, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Doc!" Piper exclaimed and Solace sat down in front of her on the examination table.

"Good, now breath calmly?" Solace ordered and felt her chest for any hardened tissue.

By now she didn't even blush when the attractive Doctor touched her. Over the last two months, he had poked and prodded her, nursing her back to strength. In that time he had poked, prodded her and put medical probes in places she didn't know medical probes could go. It was a good thing that her physician was gay as fuck. Otherwise, she would have killed him by now.

"Anything?" she asked, hoping there wouldn't be a biopsy this time.

"No, everything seems as normal with your body as can be expected, seeing as they pumped you full of hormones. Your breasts should also regain the normal size," Solace assured her. "So if you are having any plans for the future...just make sure you find a guy that doesn't mind that you can benchpress him."

Suddenly the door burst open and a tall blond man, around her age came bursting into the room. He was a marine, an ODST to be precise. "Doc, I..." He spotted Piper, who quickly crossed her arms in front of her chest and froze.

"Private Grace, get the hell out of here!" Solace roared.

The Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) turned pale. "I'm sorry Doc. Ma'am," he said, spun around and hurried back out of the room. Once the door had closed Piper started laughing and a moment later Solace joined in.

"So, we are finished here. You can get dressed again," the doctor announced.

"You know what, I think we are finished here. As I said, take it slow for another week or so and if you are still doing well you can start training in your armor," he recommended once she was fully dressed. Both of them knowing that she would be breaking in her MJOLNIR armor the moment she returned to her fellow Spartans.

"Ohh, if you see Private Grace outside you can send him in. Our ODST got hit in the head with the brick on his last mission and ended up cracking his skull so don't do anything stupid," Solace warned her.

"Of course Doc."

 **Hazel  
**

Annabeth watched as the blond stopped thrashing. **  
**

"That was tense," Hazel muttered and glanced the monitors positioned around Annabeth's bed. According to the Instruments Annabeth had been in agony. "Yes, I agree. She shouldn't have woken up this early," Hestia muttered. "What about our Spartan problem?"

"Apparently she only came for her post-surgery examinations," Hazel confirmed. "Maybe ONI doesn't know after all."

Hestia chuckled, "Don't count on it. I wouldn't put it past them to let us go on and see what happens."

"I see," Hazel muttered. "Do you have any thoughts on the legal issues. What we are going here is highly illegal."

Hestia shrugged, "Annabeth had seven years, now she may have a hundred or more. I don't think I'll lose sleep over this."

"If you say so," Hazel whispered and grabbed the sleeping girls hand. Her skin was unnaturally soft.

"Maybe we should bring Perseus here when she wakes up. As you said, Annabeth will have to learn to sort through memories like a human and she did spend most of her operational time in close contact with him. I don't claim to know too much about AIs but I think it might help!" Hazel suggested.

Hestia sighed, "It might work. You have to understand though that even if Annabeth spent most of her time helping out Perseus, managing the day to day operations would have only taken up a fraction of her runtime. For what it's worth though I'll ask my superiors for permission to bring our favorite Spartan in."

 **Piper** **Mclean**

After taking a pelican back to the Supercarrier, UNSC Thermopylae, waiting in low earth orbit she met up with Spartans 118-Perseus, and 087, also known as Kelly. The latter was the tallest woman she had ever met. At nearly seven feet she was even taller than most of the Spartans had been, including the Master Chief and Frederic. She was sadly currently one of the shortest people in her outfit.

After Piper changed into a black, armored bodysuit the three of them entered the ship's armory and Piper's gaze immediately fell on the MJOLNIR armor, assembled on a rigging. It looked very similar to the one Perseus-owned. Like his, it was a none reflective olive green and black. It was only a bit smaller and it had a slightly different helmet design. Piper slowly walked up to it and placed her hand on the shoulder piece. "It is beautiful," Piper murmured.

She had waited for this moment for the past two years...

"So, can I put in on?" Piper asked.

"Of course. Let us just call in a few technicians and help you put that armor on," Percy announced and Piper beamed at him.

It turned out that putting the armor on took longer than expected. After twenty minutes all the technicians had arrived and then they had to move the armor down to a workshop where they spent nearly twenty minutes putting her armor on her. The first half of that time she had spent standing still and then sitting, once her armored boots and leg parts were assembled. Her armor weighed nearly four-hundred pounds so her leg gauntlets and boots weren't exactly light. Perseus, in his full armor, weighed more than a thousand pounds.

Finally, Piper found herself standing motionless in the armor. Percy lowered the helmet over her head and sealed the locking collar. Then they finally powered the armor up and her HUD lit up. Her armor's shields flared up for a second, engulfing her armor in brilliant golden energy.

Piper stayed perfectly still, just like the technicians had told her too.

"Okay soldier, now slowly lift up your arm. Do it very slowly, let's see if those augmentations worked," one of the Technicians ordered her.

Piper started to do as she was told and just as she flexed her shoulder muscles her arm was wrenched into the horizontal, and nearly dislocating her shoulder in the process. "You will need to get used to moving in that armor but you'll get there," Kelly reminded her. "Just be very careful you make. Remember, if your body wasn't augmented this armor would snap you like a twig so take it easy."

It took a bit but after nearly twenty minutes she could already take her first steps and an hour she was going through the parkour faster than ever before. Instead of climbing over obstacles she nearly flew over them. Instead of jumping through windows she just ran straight through the wall. She was fast, strong, and graceful.

Finally, she found herself standing in front of Kelly. Perseus was nowhere to be seen. "Perseus has work to do. You have me to deal with for the time being. I know you have heard this a hundred times but I will tell you again. You will want to tell your friends and family of what you do. You will refrain from doing so. Your missions never happened. You will never die. If you should perish your family will be informed that you are missing in action. The circumstances of your death will remain classified for many years to come. You have to realize that Piper Mclean is no longer important. She must always come last. Now you are Spartan 201. Your armor is your skin, your visor is your face, and your rifle is your speech. Your mission will take you everywhere and nowhere. Don't expect any official recognition of your deeds because you will receive none," Kelly promised.

"As it should be. I'm not in it for glory," Piper agreed.

"Very well. I believe this is where we fight," Piper agreed.

It was impossible to tell but Piper was sure that the warrior was smiling behind her reflective visor. "Are you sure?" Piper asked and now she was sure that Kelly was smiling. "I've been waiting for ages to finally be allowed to thrash you without Perseus coming to save you."

The Spartan raised her armored fists and Piper mirrored, already knowing her chances. Kelly was fast, even by Spartan standards. In fact she was the fastest person Piper had ever met. The fastest runner by a long shot, and her reaction time was barely measurable.

Piper raised her own fists and Kelly's leg snapped up. Before her augmentations, the kick would have sent Piper into the land of dreams and probably also into surgery. But now she actually saw it coming. It was as time was slowing down around her. Kelly was still fast, a lot faster than Piper but no longer impossibly fast.

Piper instinctively raised her arm just I time to stop the armored boot from smashing into the side of her helmet. Their armored shields flared to life in a brilliant Orange and Piper saw the shield status bar in her HUD go down by a third.

"Shields off? Piper asked.

"Might be better," Kelly agreed.

Piper used her eyes to turn of her shield and then swung a fist at Kelly's stomach. Kelly's hand snapped forward and she grabbed Piper's wrist, stepped forward, and sent her tumbling over her outstretched leg. Piper hit the ground and rolled away sideways. Then she kicked off the ground, launching herself at Kelly. The two went rolling across the deck, a heavily armored, one-ton bowling ball made of two Spartans, crashed into a few crates and sent them flying. Even with her enhanced strength and speed, it was apparent that Kelly was faster and much more experienced so after a few seconds Piper found herself in a headlock. The next twenty minutes were rather Sobering. It took Kelly only a few seconds to overpower her in a wide variety of ways. But it was still a huge difference to before. At least now she could tell what way she was being defeated instead of just finding herself lying on the ground.

It was actually a real sparring match, and not Kelly just showing off a hundred ways to defeat Piper. Even if she had still been taken apart. "Come on, fun time over. It is time to get to work," Kelly announced.


End file.
